A/N: This speedy recovery is brought by Hdfen1e! You posted a really nice review that kind of made my night, but when I went to say thanks, it said something like "this user has PM disabled." So I wanted to say thanks! And without further ado:
Gene stood in the doorway, a pained expression on her face, until Louise smiled widely.
"Gene oh my gosh! I thought you weren't gonna show!" she practically shrieked, dropping the towel she was holding and pushing Gene up the stairs as fast as she could.
"Who was at the door?" Bob called down.
"It's Gene!" Louise called, hands firmly shoving Gene through the living room.
"Hey, Gene, son-" Bob started, then froze slightly as he saw Gene.
"Hey Dad," Gene replied in a hesitant voice. While it wasn't as deep as it would have been, the pitch of her voice also wasn't quite feminine.
Tina joined the collection of people in the living room, and the four sat in awkward silence until Bob spoke up again:
"Does your mother know?"
Gene laughed, a release of tension more than anything else.
"She does not."
"Come on, Dad," Tina spoke up, "You know Mom can't keep a secret to save her life."
Gene sighed, leaning back in her chair. "So I should probably tell you guys what I've been up to, huh." She glanced around the room, the center of her family's undivided attention. Louise even leaned forward, putting her elbows on her knees and her hands on her chin, the picture of paying attention.
Gene leaned back and took a minute to collect her thoughts, then began.
The minute that the second Belcher child had graduated high school, three years ago, she moved to LA with Courtney Wheeler, who had mellowed quite a bit during high school. The two decided to try to make it big in the city like Gene had always dreamed. Almost immediately, Gene started her transition, using female pronouns and taking extra income from working odd jobs to switch out her wardrobe and buy other essentials. It took months to save up enough money for hormone replacement therapy pills and another month to muster up all her courage to finally order them.
Gene and Courtney became close, spending six months in a tiny, one-bedroom apartment with one other roommate, all three of them auditioning for movie rolls, TV shows, and, in Gene's case, singing for musicals and choirs, all bickering good-naturedly between themselves when they found out that they auditioned for the same parts. That was, until Courtney got an important part in this upcoming musical: Teen and the City Bus Stop. She suddenly decided that she was too good for Gene and their other roommate, moving out of their tiny, crappy apartment and into a different one.
Gene and Tracy, the third roommate, scrambled to make ends meet, to find a different apartment, anything so they wouldn't have to move back home. Together they ended up standing in front of a strip club, awkwardly making jokes about how it would be the only way they'd be able to stay in LA, until Gene finally pushed open the door, swiveling her hips, demanding to be hired in a sultry voice.
Somehow, the two of them started to enjoy their work at the strip club, getting into the old 80's rock cut with a downbeat. They started to recognize the regulars and slowly worked their way up through the positions in the club: serving alcohol to regulars, picking music, greeting guests, and finally, once they were old enough, getting to strip on the stage. It was something that Gene found herself truly enjoying.
However, this whole experience came with some sense of guilt. Gene's family had always been positive and supportive of her dreams, and she'd essentially cut them out of her life for the past few years as she'd begun her transition out of… fear? Fear of not being accepted for who she was. And so when Louise called her up about a ten year anniversary, Gene found herself on a plane back to the Wharf.
A/N: And there we go! That's what's been happening to Gene lately. Next we're gonna focus on Tina a little bit.
Hey, if you have anyone you'd like to see what happens to them, please let me know! I have almost all of the more common background characters figured out with what they're doing now, but I don't wanna shove in, say, Darryl's or Zeke's whole backstory if no one really cares what happens to them. You can directly message me, or just say in a review who you'd like to see written up! -winks-